Method and apparatus for pressing pipe



Oct. 30,-. 1934. J. J. DYER METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRESSING PIPE 19312 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 29,

INVENTOR Oct. 30, 1934.

J. J. DYER METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRESSING PIPE Filed Oct. 29, 1931 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Sfkjkj R O T N E V m y w Patented Oct. 30,. 1934 UNITEDSTATES 1,978,420 METHOD AND arrgl t e rUs FOR PRESSING James J. Dyer,Mount Lebanon, Pa.

Application October 29, 1931, Serial No. 571,729

Claim.

This invention relates generally to method and apparatus for makingpipe, and more particularly to method and apparatus for pressing plasticmaterial, such as clay, through a die to form a pipe 6 having a socketend.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the present preferredembodiment of my invention,

Figure 1 is a vertical central section through the whole apparatus; 1

Figure 2 is a side elevation of a former used for making the socket endof the pipe, the former being removable from its support;

Figure 3 is a plan view of a removable former support;

Figure 4 is a vertical section through the former and former supportshowing these parts in assembled position;

Figure 5 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of the press andtable shown in Figure 1, and

Figure 6 is an enlarged plan view of the table shown in Figure 1 whichreceives the former and pipe, illustrating the table as provided withball bearings which aid in sliding the former supporting the pipe fromthe receiving table onto rollers leading to a pipe turner.

In making pipe with a socket end by pressing or extruding clay or otherplastic material from a press, it is customary to turn the pipe after ithas been formed so that the pipe may be dried with the pipe resting onthe spigot end rather than on the socket. This is advisable since thereis less danger of deforming the pipe if it rests while drying on thespigot end rather than on the socket end, and furthermore, any slightdeformation in the spigot end is not as detrimental as the samedeformation in the socket end. Since the pipe is pressed with its socketend down, it is customary to turn the pipe so that it may be dried inthe kiln with the socket end up. I

In the manufacture of pipe as now commonly carried out, a one-pieceformer and former support are employed. The former and support are firstheld in position against the die andbell of the press and the clay isforced against the former to form the socket end or the pipe. After thesocket end has been formed, the former and support are lowered a certaindistance and more clay is extruded to form a portion of the body of thepipe. The former and support are then lowered while the extrusion of theclay is stopped so as to draw the former away from the suspended pipeand a chuck board having the shape of the pipe socket is placed betweenthe former and socket end of the pipe. The former and support are thenraised to bring the chuck board into contact with the socket end of thepipe, after which the chuck board and former and support are loweredwhile more clay is extruded to form the remaining por tion of the pipe.It is necessary to' go through these operations in order to support thesocket end of the pipe by a chuck board on which the pipe, after beingformed, is conveyed from the press prior to turning the pipe so that itssocket end will be up instead of down.

While the partially formed pipe is suspended in order that a chuck boardmay be placed in position, the pipe is sometimes strained so that afterdrying or burning it will crack, thereby resulting in an inferiorproduct. Furthermore, there is difliculty in correctly centering thechuck board in position within the socket end of the pipe. If thecentering is not exact, it is likely to deform the socket end of thepipe. Also, after the chuck board has been placed between the former andthe socket end of the pipe, the former is again raised to bring thechuck board into contact with the pipe socket. There must be contactbetween the chuck board and the pipe socket in order to support the pipewhile the remainder an of the pipe is pressed, and yet there is thedanger that if the .former with the chuck board placed in positionthereon is raised too'iar, it will deform the pipe socket.

All of these disadvantages inherent in the use is easily removable fromits support. The former 9o and former support are raised into contactwith the press and the socket end of the pipe is made as in the formerpractice. Thereafter, the former and support are lowered while theremainder of the pipe is formed, the lowering of the former as andsupport being continuous until the desired length of pipe has beenformed. The clay isthen cut off to form the desired length of pipe andthe former and support are lowered further. The former support passesthrough openings in a table arranged beneath the press, but the formeritself, which is detachable from its support, is interrupted in itsdescent by the table so that the former with the pipe supported thereonrests on the table as the former support is lowered beneath the tabletop. The pipe supported on the former is then slid oif from the tableonto a roller table leading to a turner which turns the pipe so that itssocket end is up. The former remains in the pipe socket until after thepipe has been turned, thereby eliminating any danger of straining ordeforming the pipe or socket.

Referring more particularlyto the accompanying drawings, the clay forforming the pipe is introduced into a cylinder 2 through a hopper 3 andis pressed between a die 4 and a bell 5 by a piston 6 connected to apiston rod '7 which' moves up and down in a steam cylinder 8. Theapparatus thus far described is the same as that which is in common usefor pressing pipe. The present invention relates particularly to the useof a former which is removable from its support, and to a table whichautomatically acts to separate the former from its support as the formerand support are lowered in the manufacture of a pipe.

The removable former and former support are illustrated in detail inFigures 2, 3 and 4. The former 10 is made separate from the formersupport 11. The former is of the same general configuration as thatcommonly employed in making pipe having a socket end, but is providedwith a rim 12 extending below the flange 13, the flange supporting thelower portion of the pipe socket as the pipe is extruded from the press.The rim 12 fits in corresponding grooves 12a in the support 11 and isprovided so that after the pipe has been formed and the former 10 hasbeen separated from its support 11, the former may be slid over rollerswhile the pipe is supported on the former without danger of the rollersinjuring the former.

The former support shown in Figures 3 and4 is cruciform in shape and isprovided with lugs 15 which fit within corresponding sockets provided inthe former by the angle plates 16 secured to the former. The lugs andsockets insure that the former will be properly centered on its supportand cause the former to rotate with 'the former support, as hereinafterdescribed, to

facilitate the removal of the former from the socket of the pipe afterthe pipe has been turned.

The support 11 is rotatably mounted on the upper end of a shaft 1'7which extends below the floor line 18 between guides 19, the supportresting on a collar 17a on the shaft. The shaft is guided in itsmovement by a guide arm 20 which slides on the guides 19 (Fig. 1). Arope 21 secured at one end to the guide arm, passes over a pulley 22 andhas its other end connected to a counterweight 23. There are two rc pesand pulleys, as indicated in Figure 1, the construction of each of theseparts being the same. Upward movement of the shaft 1'7 is imparted bythe counterweight 23, and downward movement of the shaft is accomplishedby power connections (not shown), in the usual manner.

In manufacturing pipe with the present apparatus, the former 10 andsupport 11 are raised to the position indicated in Figure 1 and lockedin this position by rotating the former and support until the arms 25(Fig. 5) rest in supporting brackets 26 secured by screws 27 to the die4, of the press. The piston 6 is then lowered forcing the clay betweenthe die 4 and bell 5 against the former to form the socket end of thepipe, the rim 13 of the former being providedwith' openings 29, as isthe usual custom, to indicate to the operator when the socket has beenfully formed.

The former support 11 is then rotated on the shaft 17 by moving a handle30 upward and to the right from'the position shown in Figure 5, whichmoves a cam 31 to the left and moves the arm 25 of the support to itsdotted-line position 2511 out of engagement with the bracket 26. Theshaft 17 is then lowered so that the 'former and support pass throughthe dotted-line position indicated in Figure 5. During the lowering ofthe shaft 17, the former support 11 is guided by guides 32 which keepthe arms 25 of the former support in alinement with openings 33 in atable 34 arranged below the press. v

The shaft 17 is lowered and with it the formed and former support untilthe desired length of pipe is formed. The clay is then cut ofl from therest of the clay in the press by a revolving knife 40 secured to a shaft41 which has a bevel gear 42 at its upper end meshing with a bevel gear43 carried by a shaft 44, on which is secured a pulley 45 which may bedriven by a belt from any suitable source of power. The knife is of thetype which is thrown out radially due to centrifugal force when it isrotated to sever the clay and is withdrawn when it is not rotated sothat it will not interfere with the formation of the pipe.

The shaft 17 is then lowered further until the former support 11 passesthrough the openings 33 in the table 34 and the former 10 rests upon thetable. The former and former support are separated from each othersimply by lowering the shaft 17. The top of the table 34 is providedwith ball bearings 35 so that theformer carrying the pipe and resting onthe rim 12 may be easily slid from the table 34 onto a roller table 36,from which it is delivered to a turner 37 which turns the pipe so thatits socket end is up. The former 10 remains in the socket end of thepipe from the beginning of the pressing operation until the pipe isdelivered from the turner 37. The pipe with the socket end up is thendelivered to a drying kiln.

The removable former which is separable from its support, as hereinabovedescribed, eliminates the use of a chuck board in the production of pipehaving a socket end. It eliminates the strains to which the pipe issubjected when the partially formed pipe is suspended from the pressprior to inserting the chuck board between the suspended pipe andformer. It makes the manufacture of pipe continuous during the wholepressing operation since the former and former support are loweredcontinuously rather than being interrupted for the insertion of a chuckboard. It insures that the pipe socket will not be distorted since theshaft 17 and support 11 are centered with respect to the press by theguides 19 and the former is centered on the former support by the lugs15 fitting in corresponding recesses provided in the former. The formerwith the pipe supported thereby may be slid from the table 34 onto theroller table 36 without the necessity of lifting the pipe and chuckboard, as is the case with apparatus formerly used.

The former is preferably made out of aluminum or other light-weightmetal so that it can be easily slid from the table 34. The table top maybe provided with roller or other type bearings instead of ball bearingsas shown. While one former and pipe are being transferred to the pipeturn-' er 37, another former is placed on the former support 11 and theshaft is again raised into the position indicated in Figure 1 so that anew pipe may be made.

I have illustrated and described the present preferred embodiment of myinvention. It is to be understood, however, that the invention may beotherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.,

I claim:

1. Apparatus for pressing pipe, comprising a press, a former adapted toform the inner surface of the socket end of. the pipe, a i'ormer supportremovable from the former, a rim projecting below the bottom or theformer and seating in a recess in the former support, the former beingadapted to slide on said rim when separated from the former support forconveying pipe away from the press, means for centering the former onits support, and guides for maintaining the former support in properalinement with the press.

2. Apparatus for pressing pipe, comprising a press, a former adapted toform the socket end of a pipe, a former support removable from theformer, means for raising and lowering the support, a table below thepress constructed to allow descent oi the former support below the tabletop but limit the descent of the former, whereby the former may beseparated from its support with the former resting on the table, the topof the table being provided with rotatable bearings in order that theformer while supporting the pipe may be easily slid from the table.

3. Apparatus for pressing pipe, comprising a press, a former adapted toform the inner surface of the socket end of the pipe, a former supportremovable to disconnect it from the former, said former and supporthaving projection and recess engagement adjacent the periphery of theformer for centering the former on its support and preventing relativerotation therebetween, and guides for maintaining the former support inproper alinement with the press.

4. In the method of pressing pipe having a socket end, the stepscomprising extruding plastic material against a former which isremovable from its support to shapethe inner surface and edge 01' thesocket end of the pipe, lowering the former and forming the body of thepipe, severing the pipe, removing the pipe and former from the formersupport, and turning the pipe end for end while the former remains inthe pipe.

5. In the method of pressing pipe having a socket end, the stepscomprising transferring the pipe from the press while the pipe issupported at its socket end by the former used in shaping the innersurface and edge of the socket, and turning the pipe end for end whilethe former remains in the pipe. J J D

